In Mary Oliver’s, “The Journey”, the voices she writes about act as obstacles throughout the “journey”. These voices say different things as the story continues until the point where there are no longer any voices. The ending of the voices symbolizes the completion of the journey. Oliver begins the journey with, “One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began” (Oliver Line 1-2). As the journey begins, the isolation is made clear. In the opening lines the author refers to “you” more than once. The journey that is beginning is one that is done alone and without help from any outside forces.

Voices along the journey are the opposition. Oliver writes, “though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice” (Oliver line 3-5). These voices can be anything that makes the ultimate goal more difficult. The bad advice given by the voices must be ignored to create success. Hard times will always happen but they must be ignored to make success achievable. The voices cause the author to feel “the old tug” (Oliver line 8). This tug is a physical example of the impact that negativity can cause. The description of the voices tugging at the author demonstrates how big of an impact they really are. To complete the journey, the author writes about they must overcome all of the negativity around them. The voices cry, “‘Mend my life!’” (Oliver 10). The people or events that need to be mended are trying to hold onto the author and try to take advantage so their own journey or dream can be produced. The voices become the antagonist that must be avoided to prosper. 

As the journey continues and the author gains more momentum towards the objective. This objective can be anything the author wants it to be. The goal is set and had times follow. Oliver describes in great detail how the voices affect the journey writing, “though the wind pried with its stiff fingers at the very foundations, though their melancholy was terrible” (Oliver line 14-18). The connotation of words such as “pried”, “stiff”, “melancholy”, and “terrible” are all negative. The voices are the enemy which needs to be defeated for triumph and victory. It is made very clear by Oliver that the voices are unsatisfactory. This can be seen in the real world through people who try create chaos. For example, terrorist on 9/11 wanted to attack the center of free trade and democracy in the United States. Even with the unfortunate attacks, the United States were able to triumph and overcome the attacks. This is what Oliver writes about in “The Journey”, being able to put the negativity behind and continue on without showing vulnerability. This vulnerability is shown when Oliver describes the road ahead, “it was already late enough, and a wild night, and the road full of fallen branches and stones” (Oliver lines 19-22).  The road was full of obstacles which made the experience “wild” and difficult. The “branches and stone” along the road are symbolic of more adversities making the journey even more difficult. Although the voices are not specifically mentioned in these lines, it can be inferred that they made the road treacherous. A road that is scattered with stones and branches create obstacles that add a degree of difficulty to anyone. Even with the obstacles along the way, there are ways to overcome them.

The Journey can be long and difficult but at the end of the tunnel is a light. This light is completing the journey. After the voices “attacked” the writer, good times were close ahead. Oliver writes about good fortune to come by stating, “but little by little as you left the voices behind” (Oliver lines 23-24). The physical act of voices holding back begin to disappear as the author perseveres along the way. The tone of the writing becomes more positive as the voices are left behind. Oliver describes it as, “the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds, and there was a new voice which you slowly recognized as your own” (Oliver lines 25-29). Oliver’s writing becomes more conclusive. The voice changes from being a negative impact to something absolute and good. The stars burn through the clouds which creates a clear sky. This clear sky is success and completion of the goal. Although the goal of this journey was never stated in the poem it can be assumed that is was completed with success when the clouds cleared and a clear sky appeared. 

Voices can be very different depending on the circumstances at hand. They can be negative and can be something difficult to overcome. With perseverance and determination, the voices can become a positive helping hand to finish the journey. Hard work and determination any objective can be finished. Oliver was able to make the success clear even with all of the adversities that came during the start of the poem. The journey was difficult at the beginning but was better at the end. As long as hope isn’t given up success will always come. Oliver did a great job in showing this in just a few lines of poetry.
